Vancouver Stock Exchange (VAN)
Candlefocus EditorThe VAN was founded in 1903 and operated as an independent exchange until 1990 when it joined forces with its sister exchanges in Alberta and Winnipeg to form the Canadian Venture Exchange. In 1999, the exchange was absorbed into the new TSX Venture exchange, which resulted from a merger between the Vancouver and Alberta Stock Exchanges. During its time, the VAN saw some significant events such as the surge of the tech stock bubble in the mid-90s.
The VAN was known for its high number of shares trading in the penny to low dollar range. It also hosted many high-risk, junior-level resource companies, some of which proved to be fraudulent. Until its incorporation into the TSX Venture Exchange, the VAN provided investors with access to many small- and micro-cap companies that the TSX could not list.
The VAN also saw its fair share of successful IPOs, some of which included the now Toronto-listed HudBay Minerals, IAM Gold, Goldcorp Inc. and Silver Wheaton, as well as the Vancouver-based A&W Revenue Royalties Income Fund.
In general, most investors viewed the VAN as a highly speculative stock exchange, due to its focus on smaller, riskier listings and the large number of scams and fraudulent IPOs that occurred. As such, it became the preferred choice for risk-tolerant investors seeking to buy small-cap stocks in Canada.
The VAN was ultimately dissolved in 1999 due to a lack of volume and interest in its listings. Investors who had made investments in VAN stocks were automatically swapped over to the TSX Venture Exchange. Although the VAN is no longer in existence, the promise of high returns from high-risk investments and the resulting successful listing of the former VAN companies on the TSX Venture Exchange is still remembered.